American Children Advertising

The author is set out to target companies such as the fast food industry and its affiliation with child targeted advertisement. The article begins by

Advertisements are everywhere. They are a major part of modern day society. Whether it be a television commercial, an internet banner, or a billboard, advertisements influence people of all ages, but they affect a certain age group much more than others. Children ranging from toddlers to teenagers are exposed to thousands upon thousands of advertisements each year. Some of these advertisements are damaging to children, while others are a positive influence. Advertisements can either be used as a tool or a weapon. Food advertisements and manipulation strategies are both positive and negative, and how companies use them decides whether or not marketing to children is ethical.

Television ads are arguably the most influential form of advertisement for fast food chains considering the fact that there 115.6 million TV homes in the United States, and over half of these homes have at least three TV’s. Today’s children spend on average of 44.5 hours a week in front of some type of screen whether its computer, TV or cellphone. More than any other activity in their lives other than sleeping (American Physiological Association). It has been discovered that children under the age of eight have difficulties telling apart programming and advertising and do not understand the persuasive techniques used on them, making them the main target for fast food companies. By incorporating famous people in TV commercials, people of all ages are tricked into thinking that if they copy the actions of the famous than it is acceptable to give

The advertising of foods and beverages targeted at children in Canada is a major cost for concern and policy makers should be taking a critical look at it. Restricting the marketing of foods and beverages targeted at children is a cost efficient way of implementing a population base intervention to combat childhood obesity (Raine, Lobstein Landon, Kent, Pellerin, Caulfield, Finegood, Mongeau, Neary & Spence, 2013). The World Health Organization (WHO) and other International bodies such as the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) have set tough recommendations for countries to follow to restrict the advertising of food and beverages to children (Raine, Lobstein Landon, Kent, Pellerin, Caulfield, Finegood, Mongeau, Neary & Spence, 2013). These recommendations outline several empirical evidences which serve as the paradigm for policy makers to act on and protect children from being targeted by advertising companies. The empirical evidences suggest children lack the knack to cognitively understand the persuasive intent of advertising companies (Raine et al, 2013). Food advertising companies envision children as susceptible and therefore adopt means and ways to lure them into buying their wares. Popular cartoon and

Although Lewis’ study showed this message strategy to be most compelling especially in advertising, it bears the weight of finding a corporate conscience as in the case of Kraft Foods and their issue of targeting children in their ads (O’Rourke, 2013). Kraft Foods ads were effective in convincing children to want sugary items on a daily basis but failed to inform the young consumers of the health concerns with the product especially related to daily

Furthermore, advertisements are now being integrated into the food they eat, and most notably in fast foods chain. One of the methods that is being exploited is children’s attachment to fictional characters. Advertisements include popular cartoon characters on their food packages or in their commercials. This marketing tactic draws the child towards that brand or product and can even delude them in thinking that it is superior in some

How would you feel if you knew fast food corporations were directing their ads towards your kids? During this presentation, we will be going over how the fast food industry only cares about your money and not your health. These actions are affecting our society as a whole as well as other countries and how refusing to buy fast food will affect the economy. All of these actions will affect the U.S as a whole. I will talk about how obesity effects the youth, society, and how it affects the economy.​

Fast food promotions appear frequently on programs for preschool children, representing 100% of food-related promotional messages on Playhouse Disney, 59% on PBS Kids, and 46% on Nick Junior in one study.… evidence has suggested direct correlations between food advertising and children's purchase requests, brand preferences, consumption behavior, and overall nutritional intake…. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) concluded that young children are cognitively defenseless against advertising messages, frequently accepting advertising claims at face value. (Warren, et al.

A major motivation of marketing to children is that they make up the future generation who are in the process of developing consumer preferences. Supporters of advertising to children could argue that not all advertisements are for unhealthy products, but that they can be for useful products with positive messages for consumers. According to Levinson, advertising to children isn’t manipulative because it creates social conversations. For example, “everything the brand says, and everything kids or their parents say, becomes part of the social discourse. Brands need to seize every opportunity to shape this

Fast food advertisement agencies take advantage of the ignorance of children to scam them into wanting unhealthy meals. Each year, the fast food industry spends over $3 million of advertising targeted towards children. Half of television advertisement is used during children’s shows and with cartoons. Out of all the factors

Many influential bodies in the food industry openly exploit children by presenting them with alluring commercials in an attempt to get them to develop interest in certain products. "Advertising directed to children, particularly on television, is heavily populated by commercials for foods that pose adiposity and related health risks for children when consumed in abundance" (Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth 2 301). Taking this into account, it would appear that the social order is practically being forced to stand by and watch as children are used as a tool to sell products.

How much do the fast food companies spend for advertising to children in the United States? In 2009, “The Fast food companies spent over $ 4.2 billion in the fast food industry alone to market on television, the internet, social media sites, etc” (Brownell, 2009). This amount of money demonstrated that advertising to children is big business for companies, but it affects children directly, who are innocent of future generations. The purpose of this essay is to convince legislators to consider banning the advertising of fast food to children under the age of 12 in children’s programming. First, I will briefly describe the definition of fast food and the negative effects of advertising fast food to children under the age of 12. They are

Even though marketing has the ability to influence people of all ages, children seem to be the most vulnerable ones. The 2003 Hastings report concluded, “on the evidence up to that date, that children in the UK are exposed to extensive food advertising, and that the diet advertised is considerably less healthy than the diet healthcare experts would recommend” (Halford and Boyland, 2013, p, 182). The case is not much different in other countries also. Reports from North America (Gantz, et al. 2007; Institute of Medicine, 2005) clearly indicated the increased vulnerability of children towards advertising and marketing activities of foods and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers. The majority of the children do not have the maturity to segregate between the good and evil. They are unaware of the traps made by the product manufacturers and service providers. Influenced by the attractive advertisements and the sales promotion activities by the foods and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers, children often compel their parents to purchase these things for them. Parents, on the other hand, are ready to satisfy the needs of their children since many of the parents think that fulfilling the demands of their children might help them to strengthen their relationships with their children. It should be noted that the parent child relationship in the

Consumers are creatively successful when designing a persuasive advertisement for increased profitability. In a normal household, it’s the parents who have the financial obligations; therefore, it would be wise to grab their attention. On the other hand, it takes less than a strategic mind targeting children because the simplest things fascinate them. Businesses have been perfecting commercials to be effective on the viewers, for years. Although marketing has had an impact on some adults, a more efficient route was discovered. Unfortunately, the effect was more powerful through the vulnerable minds of children. The effects of consumerism damages a child heavier than an adult; therefore,

Foremost fast-food advertisers employ several strategies to influence children. First fast-food advertisers use cartoon images embodied with brand to make their product more attractive to children. For example, McDonalds in 1990 run a commercial ad of “Fry Kids (2)” to